Glass furnace



Pateoteaoe. 24. 193s I i, t l j v UNITED. ,STATI-3s, PATENT ori-Tice l o I 2,025,581 f GLAss FURNACE Etienne reo-hoz, Gilly-magere, mno'o Application November 4', 1932, serial No. 641,153

y In France November 17, 1931 4'Claims. y (Cl. 1S-56) The presentinvention relates to improvements` in furnacesfor the melting of glass, such as basin furnacesjcrucible furnaces, and the like, which are adapted to ameliorate the method of man- -5 ual gathering of the melted glass, and to permit the glass-shaping machines, for .instance those employing vacuum suction, to receive a supply of glass having a uniform temperature at all points cna horizontal section.

In conformity to th`e inventionf the furnace comprises a gathering chamber gonsisting of refractory material and having a certain depth,`

said chamber being connected in a closed circuit with the recipient containing the molten glass, such as a basin, crucible or the like, the conduit which delivers the. glass to the chamber being adapted to connect the bottom of the chamber solely by way of example and relates to` the case of a basin furnace:

Fig. 1 isa partial vertical and longitudinal section of an improvedfurnace in conformity to the invention, and Fig. 2 is the correspondingplan view. Fig. 3 shows a modified detail of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a modification of the tion, showing a particular method comprised in the invention. v-

In the form of construction shown inv Figs.l l

` and 2, a trough of refractory material I is fitted f thus free from bubbles and impurities. This re"Y fined glass enters the basin through the apertures of a. grating y6, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2,v or

through the annular space between a disc 1 and,

the walls of the trough I, as show n in Fig. A3.

At the upper part of the trough I are mounted two vertical partitions Land 8,'whih form a cavity 9 together with'the lateral walls, and said cavity is connected with the upper` part of the'.

well 5 by a channel 8afof rectangular lsection provided 1n the partition s. n; the oe'vity s is i9- Fig. 5 is a partial section ofanother modiflca cated a piston I 0 which has an alternate vertical motion. 'f

The said piston consists of refractory material and is maintained by a metallic casing II which is mounted on the piston and is secured to a rod I2 adapted for mechanical.control.

The movement of the piston. at ther desired rate, which may for instance depend upon the operation of the machine which withdraws the glass from 'the gathering chamber 5, may be efl fected in any suitable manner, for example by -means of driving gear controlling a cam I3- mounted in "fa sliding frame I4 secured to the rod l2. The outline of thecammay be such as to impart tothe rod a' movement of rise and l descent which takes place -in a short time as compared `with thetimeof stopping of the piston IE at theupper dead centre, corresponding to the flow of the `glassfromtthe chamber 5 to the cavity 9. Orithe other hand, the length of the upwardand downward stroke may be adjusted by varying the eccentricity of the cam i3 with reference to the driving shaft I5 on which it is mounted.. This adjustment of the .stroke permits to vary the rate of ow ofthe 1 glass and also. tochange the level of the glass in chamber 5 as desired.

Upon the metallic casing I l is mounted a support lb'for guiding a vertical rod I1 having at its lower end a valve disc I8 of refractory material,` adapted to close the conduit 8a in which it is movable. The rod I1. is guided at the lower end' by a stationary member I9 which also serves as a lowerstop. I

By thecompression of spring 20 the said valve I8 is lpreferably maintained in the lowest possible position, and thus the4 said valve, which serves the same purpose as the suction valve of a, pump, will already occupy the lower position when the piston I0 commences its downward stroke., l f

The operation is as follows. The glass passes from the furnace 2 'into chamber 5 through the conduit Y2| formed "at the bottom of the furnace by the partition 3, and then through the apertures in the grating s6 `or through the annularspace 22 surrounding the disc 1 (Fig. 3).

Thus the molten glass ilows in the direction of v.

, passage'may constitute the point of greatest rethan the other edges l of the cavity 9. ysill Hs somewhat above the level of the glass in sistance in the circuit of the glass.

The circulation of the glass is eii'ected by two combinedmeans, iirstly by the natural ow due to the delivery of the glass to the machine, the

level in chamber l thus descending and tending. to be restored dueto the principle of communieating vessels, and secondly, due to the pumping eil'ect of the piston l0. By reason of the greater lresistance of this passage, the glass is obliged to now at the same speed through all the orifices of the grating 6 or upon the whole periphery of the disc 1, thus delivering hot glass to all points of the chamber 5, and even to those which are the farthest with respect to the furnace.

. In this manner, the temperature of the glass will be uniform at all points of the samehorizontal sectiony of the chamber 5. i y Y Due to the connection which is made between the movements of the piston III and the valve Il which has already been lowered and thus closes the-channel 8a, when the piston I0' begins to,desce'nd,- and during this stroke of the piston, the glass which is contained in the 'cav- 'ity 8 and now rises, cannot return `(or at least only partially) into the chamber B. For this reason the glass thus raised is obliged to overflow for the'major part into the furnace over the` sill l whose top is situated at a lower level Ihe the furnace, and thus the glass which has passed over it will be unable to return to the rear. After this overflow has taken place, the piston I0 rises, thus lowering the level of the glass in the rcavity 8, and as the said piston draws with it the valve Il, there will at once take place a natural flow of a small quantity of glass from the chamber 5 to the cavity l.

If these movements are repeated, a circulation of glass will be set up between the furnace and the chamber by whichthe glass in the chamber will be constantly maintained in the iiuid state, and this circulation will further assure the uniform temperature of the glass employed in the manufacture.

Fig. 4 shows a modincation of the device represented in Fig. 2. While in the latter case the glass which is returned back to the furnace by the piston I0 flows directly above the glass which is to be delivered to the machine, in the construction shown in Fig. 4, on the contrary, the sill or ridge l has a certain height, and lateral chan-- nels'23-24 direct the returning glass to a sufilcient distance from the axis of the glass-feeding conduit.

In the present case, this glass flowsin grooves or channels formed in the blocks employed for the wall of the basin. Suitable sills 2l oblige the glass toproceed for a certain distance beforreturning to the basin, as shown by thearrows l indicated in the return current of glass.

`The masonry which is situated above thevlevel of the glass is shaped in such manner that it will provide for a direct reverberation from the furnace hearth upon the surface of the glass in circulation in the said channels.

Furthermore, use is made of direct means for heating the upper-layer of glass in the chamber l, during the period when the glass-gathering does not take place. It is advisable, in fact, to heat further the glass either in' order to reduce the loss of heat by the radiation o f glass exposed to the air, or in the particular case of suction machines, to provide in the nrst place,

for thefeeding of glass at a very high temperature for the better formation ofthe necks of bottles or the like, which are usually thinner at the top than the main body, thus avoiding risk s of incision.

In the known arrangementathe means provided for the further heating of this type of front basin consist of stationary burners which furnish heat continuously, at each instant .of 1o the operating cycle of the machine, and at4 a. certain distance from the part of this basin which is farthest forward.

In the arrangement according `to the inven.

Ytion, on the contrary, the heating means are i5 only applied at the point at which they are required. They are moved aside only during the gathering operation, and at this time, the burner (employing fuel-oil, gas, etc.) is turned down or is i even stopped. y 20 In the constructionshown in Figs. land 2,`the heating means consist of an inverted bell-shaped v device 21 which consists of refractory material and is maintained in a metallic casing '28. This latter is supported. for instance, by an arm 29 25,

which is pivotally mounted on a fixed vertical axle pin I0 (Fim-2). The bell 21, supported by y ,the curved arm 29. is displaced at 21a by the arm ll of the machine (adaptdto withdraw the glass fromme chamber s) when this am al 1s 1n so thc suction position as herein represented. In order to prevent any/abrupt motion of laninjurious nature. the arm Il of the machine preferably makes contact with an appendage 32 of the arm 29 supporting the bell, through the me# 85 dium of a shock-absorbing spring When the arm I0 of the machine leaves the gathering point, the ball 21 returns to the heating position, under the action of a counterweight 34 connected by a cable l5, mounted on pulleys, with the arm 29.

As concerns regularity 'of temperature, no corrections have been hitherto made of the difference between the most advanced point andthe most remote point of the trough, with reference tothe furnace.

However, with the bell 21, mounted directly abovethe end of the front basin, it is possible to render more favourable the condition in the most prominent part of the trough, either by giving a suitable direction to the burner Il in order to preferably produce apar'abolic flame for the purpose of heating principally by radiation, or by providing a small partition 8l (Fig. 1) which brings the heat upon the forward or proiecting part. i

In the case of heating with a rich purified gas.-v the apparatus will comprise a great number of small burners, or bricks provided with recesses. for instance of the Krupp system. in such manner asto radiate the heat chiefly upon the most advanced periphery of the trough.

A modified arrangement for heatingthe mostv advanced part of the chamber may be emplyed alone or in combination with the bell 21, as is 65 The burnt gas is 1o Having now described -my invention what. I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a glass furnace of the' basin, crucible or vother type, a continuous closed circuit for the liquid glass to be delivered to the casting-machine, comprising 'a gathering chamber for the molten glass, a channel for supplying glass from) the furnace to said gathering chamber and connecting the latter with the furnace ata point I situated under the upper' level of glass in said furnace, further channel means connecting said gathering chamber with the furnace for the return of glass, a sill terminating said second channel, perforated transversal partition means pro-4 truding in said second channel, and forming together with said sill, a pocket, a longitudinally `movable plunger located inIl said pocket, and

adapted to displace at least a part of the glass 'contained therein, obturating means adapted to turn iiow of cold glass into the gathering chamber, and causingthe plunger to dip into the glass filling said pocket thereby causing said latter cold glass to ow over said sill and to return M into the furnace.

2. In a glass furnace of the basin, crucible or other type, a continuous closed circuit forthe liquid glassto be delivered to the casting machine, comprising a gathering chamber forthe molten glass, a channel for supplying glass from the furnace to said gathering chamber and connectlng lattery with the furnace at a point situated under the upper level of glass in said ,furnace, heating means adapted to-heat the upper surface of glass in said gathering chamber, said heating means being removable and comprising a member actuated by the gathering device of the machine in order to displace said heating means `and further means urging said heating means back into its initial position as soon as the glass has been delivered and said gathering device removed.

3. A glass furnace according to claim 1 further comprising a solid partition terminating said second mentioned rchannel 'and disposed preferably at a higher level than the glass level in the gathering chamber. y

4. A glass furnace according to claim l where- -in an operative connection is provided betweenk said plunger and obturator imparting to the plunger firsty an upward stroke at the end of which it is stopped and then a downward stroke followed by another stop period, and in the meantime causing the obturator to be lifted during the upward stroke and the first stop period of the plunger thereby providing for the filling 30 of said recess, with liquid glass, and then lowering said obturator during the downward stroke of the plunger thereby causing the glass to return into the furnace.

ETIENNE FcHoz. 

